Oh Wonder
by cyanide rain
Summary: The pink haired woman will try to be happy for him, even if he is too far into the pains of his past to return. (Previously titled Grins with a different summary.)
1. Tower(don't look down)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

_You're high upon a tower _

_Now don't look down _

_I will be ok here on the ground _

_And you can always call to say hello from time to time_

_When you're no longer mine_

Tower

Sakura had been twelve when she first figured that she had a crush on Sasuke, an epic one at that. When they were in the academy, she would steal subtle glances at the Uchiha, sometimes gazing too long into his hardened expression. She would dream about the boy, of how she would weasel her way into his cold, icy heart and warm him from inside, then eventually, they would have a grand wedding of some sort. But in the end, it had only been dreams, and sometimes, dreams were far, far too vast achieve.

The pink haired girl had been fourteen when her Uchiha prince had left the village, and no matter how hard she tried to make him stay, he still left her. When emerald eyes fluttered open, the slight aching in the back of her neck starting to increase until it became an insistent pounding that reached her head. As she closes her eyes, she only remembers a quiet, "thank you," and then she had gone under. The familiar stinging behind her eyes, and the choking sensations grabbing at her throat, and the teenage girl realizes that the hurt she feels inside, wasn't tangible, for it hurt so much, more than what a scrape would feel like.

Now, bright eyed Sakura had evolved to the age of twenty, so much more mature, and far, far more powerful. When a loud hoot of enthusiasm tugs at her attention, she glimpses out the window, and the sight that she witnesses has her getting out of her chair so quickly that it bangs against the wall. The Haruno is staring wide eyed, at the sight of one Sasuke Uchiha slowly making his way to the village gates, and Naruto's blue eyes are wide with glee as he dashes towards the expressionless young man before him. In her hurry, she forces the window open and leaps out, a chakra enhanced leap has her landing on a rooftop, not far away from the scene.

When the kunoichi stares down at her blonde best friend as he laughs, watching with a satisfied smile tugging at the corners of her lips, but it dissipates as she spots the red haired woman that Sasuke has his arm around. The sting of hurt that she felt six years ago comes rushing back to her, and green eyes, framed by faint pink lashes, are blinking rapidly, blinking away the tears that she refuses to let fall, because _goddammit_, she's so much better than that.

Carefully piecing together a mask of glad indifference, the female ninja cuts a wide grin into her features and leaps down from the rooftop where she had previously occupied. The young woman smiles at the cold, indifferent man she had fallen so hard for eight years ago. Gem eyes holds the gaze of blank charcoal and she's searching so vehemently for some sort of emotion in those devoid eyes, but per usual, there is none.

During dinner, slowly crumbling Sakura suffocates through the cruel announcement that Sasuke makes, declaring that he and Karin would be married in a matter of three months, and that invitations would be sent out accordingly. Sakura can only avert her gaze to focus on the table not too far from the one she, Naruto, Sasuke, and Karin occupy. The young couple sitting together were smiling, exchanging soft words with each other and the boy reaches over to entwine their fingers together and place a kiss to the top of the girl's hand. The medic only snaps into focus when Naruto nudges her lightly under the table and she's met with clear, blue eyes, asking if she was ok. A subtle smile stretches the corner of plump, gloss colored lips, and she does everything she can to not falter behind her façade.

When head of the Medical Division stumbles into her silent home, she closes the door behind her with a soft "click". Only when she's halfway through her mug of hot chocolate does she realize that Sasuke had always been climbing a high, high tower, already too far up when she had first laid eyes on him and the sole reason she couldn't climb said tower was because she hadn't tried to find a way, and this woman, Karin, had. When realization dawns upon her, she smiles, soft and bitter, because pink haired Sakura is content with staying on the ground, and watching him continue to scale the tower with Karin at his side.

_I always knew that you would follow your big dreams_

_But what I didn't know is that your dreams never did include me _

* * *

I decided to make a little something. Might have another chappie or two so keep your eyes open for that. Hope you enjoyed, criticism and reviews are highly appreciated. Thanks!

-cyanide


	2. Clear Blue Sky

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

_We're black and blue _

_And in love with misery_

Clear Blue Sky

The day in which Karin became Karin Uchiha, Sakura felt a veil of numb indifference fall over herself, she's supposed to be jealous, she thinks, but really, she's so tired she can barely even muster an upward pull of her lips. As she sits in the front row, next to Ino, who had been married to Chouji earlier this week, she notices that the blonde is fiddling with her ring, almost in an anxious manner. Not one to question her female best friend, she averts her gaze so that she's staring down the aisle, watching Karin walk across, wearing her white wedding dress. The blue eyed woman next to her can only twist her features into a cruel sneer and say how the white clashed so horribly with the red haired medic's hair and eyes.

Hearing her best friend attempt to make her feel better, the green eyed woman forcefully tugged her mouth upwards, but as soon as the slip of a smile appeared, it fades as Sakura sees red-haired Karin smile victoriously at her and in return, the head medic grins back, a full stretched smile that appears hellish with her tired eyes and pale complexion.

When the ceremony is almost halfway through to where Sasuke and Karin would take their vows, the pink haired kunoichi fades away from reality, she decides she doesn't want to be present for their special moment. As she wanders slowly through her thoughts, the rain falls bitingly onto her skin, but she doesn't notice, sweet Sakura is already too far gone.

When she comes to, Ino is shaking her shoulder, calling her name, and holding an umbrella all at once. Green eyes flutter gently as drops of water drop onto her and slide effortlessly on her skin before falling away. "Oh," the ninja murmurs before stepping into shelter, but she can't help but smile, just a little, that on Karin's grand, grand day, the rain falls in heavy sheets, even though the sky is still a perfect, perfect blue.

Scarlett eyes are furious as the red head stomps the ground and proceeds to get mud all over her pure white dress and the shriek that breaks out of her lips could have been heard miles and miles away. She furiously strides towards the Haruno woman, petty anger rolling off of her in waves. "_You did this didn't you?!_" her scream is high pitched, and _kami_, it's annoying. "_You made it rain with that…that depressing aura of yours!"_

The medic-nin only raises a pink eyebrow and shrugs, but the redhead jabs a finger at shoulder angrily. Sakura's emerald eyed gaze hardens into one that could rival the texture of a diamond. She _hated_ petty women and the jab was the last straw. A chakra engulfed hand swats the opposing woman's arm and Ino's hoot of laughter could be heard. A still silence is heard before the spectacled woman starts to cry shrilly, pointing at the kunoichi before her, viridian eyed gaze bearing down with a menacing, furious look.

"_You have Sasuke already, Karin. So please, just stop being petty over coincidences._" Her voice is a quiet, cold whisper, and the hurt she's been trying so hard to ignore pours out into the one sentence that she uttered.

But really, she feels the satisfaction wash through her in waves; that Karin was ruined, even if it was just for a day.

_I don't really need this _

_I'm getting in my own way_

_Getting high on heartbreak_

* * *

So here is the second chapter to Tower, and it's Clear Blue Sky, also a song by Skylar Grey. It's a bit rushed but...hope you enjoyed. I'm taking requests for stories and such just drop a pm in. Criticism and reviews highly appreciated.

Thanks!

-cyanide


	3. So Cold

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

_You caused my heart to bleed and_

_You still owe me a reason _

_'cause I can't figure out why..._

So Cold

It's March twenty-eighth, Sakura's twenty-first birthday and the day where Uchiha Karin announces, with that cruel, suffocating smile of hers that she's pregnant. _It's cold today…_ Sakura had thought as she put on her jacket, and scarf, but when the red-head had made the announcement, there didn't seem to be enough clothing to protect the woman from the icy feeling that was starting to circulate from within her body.

Even so, she offers the best smile that she can, which is a stiff, slightly watery smile that barely keeps the tears that are pooling so rapidly from falling. Emerald eyes blind rapidly before closing for a few seconds and with a quiet, _lame_ excuse, she leaves, hurrying out of the Uchiha compound into the deserted streets that is Konoha at eleven in the evening. Ino is calling her name behind her, running to catch up, but the flower haired woman doesn't want to 'talk about it'. There was nothing to talk about, that has _already been talked about_.

The kunoichi fades away with a quiet plume of smoke, and materializes right before her door. She slaps a chakra laden hand onto the door, and it opens after a few clicks of locks sliding, with a loud sigh, the Haruno woman steps into her home, but with bitter irony, she notices that her safe zone is warm, almost giving off an inviting atmosphere. With a strained gasp, she ignores the warm and chooses to dwell within her small study room, quiet with a numbing, biting cold.

As the woman flips through various books, she doesn't read the text, and is instead, too lost in her world of thoughts. Green eyes stare unblinking as Sakura wonder's what exactly Sasuke sees in that…red haired monstrosity with the name of Karin. Instead of wandering any further, her tired eyes close and the flickering light of the candles around her cast shadows onto her pale, worn out complexion.

A loud banging wakes the weary woman from her sleep and she is immediately alert, eyes blinking rapidly as she nets out her chakra to find anything around the ordinary. The shielded chakra of an ANBU greets her and she tears her door open and stares at the human before her with bags under her eyes. He only drops a scroll into her waiting fingers before disappearing again, with a slam she slams the door shut and sighs, dropping the scroll on the table before going to get ready for the day.

The actions that pink haired woman goes through are mechanical, ones without the need to think. She finally exits her bedroom and picks the scroll up, scanning over it and blinks before sighing again. She's to meet her team in about-she glances at the clock- an hour or so, and as she packs, she chooses to seal everything she needs in scrolls before shoving everything into a small pack. By the time she's done, it's almost time to go, and so the medic decides to grab a snack on the way to village gates.

The young woman wanders to the tea shop that's near the front of the village and buy's a box of sweet anko dango. As she nibbles on the treat, she wonders who would be on her team, and really, Sakura doesn't want to think too hard of all of the possibilities, it was territory too dangerous for her.

When she finally makes it to the massive gates, her eyes blink a few times before squinting and widening, her hands rise to cover over her parted lips and she gasps, shocked and strangled. Standing not too far before her is a head of tail-feather hair, and void, grey colored eyes. And really, it's almost like dying inside all over again, _almost._

_Why I'm alone and freezing_

_While you're in the bed that she's in_

_And I'm just left alone to cry_

* * *

So this one wasn't a Skylar Grey song but instead a Ben Cocks one...So...Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reviews btw. Criticism and reviews are highly appreciated.

-cyanide


	4. Words

disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

_It's so loud inside my head _

_With words that I should've said _

Words

As cold, emotionless Sasuke stares down at the pink haired woman before, her wide eyes nearly flowing over with tears, and dear God, it _hurts_ to see her like this, and the fact that he is the cause of it, it's like being skinned and having vodka poured over the raw muscles. He makes sure that nothing passes through his carefully crafted, indifferent mask, but he damn near wants to get on his knees and beg for forgiveness, although he already knows, he's not worthy of it.

The Uchiha stands motionless, a thousand words, phrases flies through his mind in barely over a second, and he has so much he wants to say to her. How he regrets marrying Karin, _so fucking much, _and that he didn't know whether or not he would make it back, so in the spur of the moment, he had gone and done the most foolish act he had _ever _done. Because really, seeing her like this, the dead looking eyes that used to shine so, so bright, like she could light a cloudy day just by smiling. But without noticing, he has said something that has Sakura's tears sliding over her cheeks, and a mangled sob tearing out of her throat.

_"I would not have done it, married Karin. If I had come back earlier. I would have chosen you instead." _

As soon as those foul words slipped out of his venomous lips, she's standing still, and her eyes are so wide it's almost as if someone had slapped her with a crowbar, and he guesses he has, just verbally. And so suddenly, she jerks back to life with a diamond layered gaze and an expression that conveyed anger, hurt, and a hatred that was just starting to bloom into a fatal flower. "_Don't…just don't say anything. It's already past, and really, it isn't about what you would have done, but what you have already done." _ Sasuke stands, straighter and his surprise is barely even a widening of slightly flashing red.

As the four-man team departed on the mission to Sunagakure, the tension is clouded so thickly that the other two members are quiet and moving as quickly as they can so that maybe, they can make it to the desert, just a bit faster. The hurt that radiated off of the medic was like a furnace, so noticeable that the people around her were affected while Sasuke on the other hand, the numb aura that rolls off him is suffocating and could make someone feel claustrophobic.

But with dulling bitterness, he's already discovered that you couldn't take back words that you've never even said.

_As I drown in my regrets_

_I can't take back the words _

_I never said_

* * *

Soo...another chapter. It was a quick one and I had time sooo...enjoy! Thanks for reviewing and even more are highly appreciated. This one is based off of Words by skylar grey.

-cyanide


	5. Serial Killer

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

_Baby, I'm a sociopath_  
_Sweet serial killer_  
_On the warpath_

Serial Killer

After the team of four had reached Sunagakure, Sakura requests to report to the Kazekage, quickly snatching the scroll from the hands of her ANBU teammate and taking a large, chakra boosted leap to land on one of the rooftops. As the emerald eyed woman navigated her way to a certain red-haired, jade eyed man, her thoughts stray to Karin and Sasuke, and the child they were most likely going to conceive very soon. The dull pang of jealousy and sting of hurt that follows it has Sakura breathing unevenly, her breaths coming quickly like she's going to start hyperventilating anytime now, and maybe, she just might.

As she approaches the building, she slows to a stop to give the guards her identification and information, and then she's hurrying up the stairs, two at a time, right until she nearly runs into Sabaku no Gaara's, kage-robes clad back. Hesitantly, she clears her throat and greets him with a polite, "Gaara-sama," and he nods back to her, jade eyes giving her dust coated clothes a once over. As she hands him the scroll he blinks slowly, and she notices that the rings around his eyes barely lightened, if at all. But the words that roll from his lips has her standing frozen where she is.

_ "I have heard about the marriage between the Uchiha and the red-haired woman."_

And that's all it takes for her to nearly lose her brittle composure. Silently, she nods her head and smiles, although it was forced and openly displayed the hurt that she keeps hidden behind the indifferent front that she puts up. But already the kunoichi knows that it's slowly crumbling away; the dark purple under her eyes are a dead giveaway, as well as her unnaturally pale, colorless face.

The man before her pins her with a look that could _almost_ be pity, but it's almost that makes it an entirely different look. It's a look that asks the silent question of, _"just how strong are you?"_ and the blank flatness slides over her previously wide open eyes. If that simple gaze was a challenge, then fine, she would accept it, and she would show how damningly unstoppable she was.

"_Ah, yes. They seem quite the happy couple, don't they?"_ Sakura nearly spits back, but keeps it at a polite statement, followed by a scratch at the back of her head, and the numb smile on her face stretches into a grin that reveals pretty, pearly teeth, and the woman chuckles blankly, the sound fading into nothing. The softening of devoid jade eyes has her clenching her jaw slightly, and she is so close to snarling, she doesn't want sympathy, although the voice deep, deep down whispers otherwise. But, coral-haired Sakura denies it, hissing back that all she needs is someone who understands, but already the woman knows that she's fooling herself because no one really will.

As the medic ninja slowly retreats towards Sasuke's chakra signature, she's fuming, the dark, vile jealousy mixed with hot, violent anger leaks out of her aura, and she decides that she's very done with Uchiha Karin. When she got back to Konoha, she was going to beat the living stuffing out of the red-head leech. "_Oh yes, I will beat her, and I will do it good._" She murmurs darkly to herself and slams the hotel's front door open and angrily takes the stairs into the room in which she finds Sasuke meditating in.

_'Cause I love you_

_Just a little too much_

* * *

Ah! Update! I haven't done that in a while so enjoy! 3 Reviews and criticism is highly wanted and appreciated. Thank you!

-cyanide


	6. Homewrecker

Note: I don't own Naruto or the songs.

* * *

_But deep down all you want is love _

_The pure kind we all dream of_

Homewrecker

After storming angrily into the hotel room, Sakura's green eyes narrow maliciously before she makes her way to the stoic Uchiha, who previously had been meditating. The woman is so fucking _angry_ with what this man and his red-haired bimbo of a wife has morphed her into. She's a jealous, seething, confused, raging mess that is just preying on the rightly wrong move in order to completely crumble and explode like a super nova, and God, she hates it.

She stands in front of him and her normally delicate features summon the ugliest sneer she has ever let slip on her face. "_Even if you had come back earlier, without that redhead extension, your previous actions wouldn't have allowed us to last, anyway. We'd be a ticking time bomb with a short fuse and a far too dangerous explosion."_ With that, the pink haired woman grabs her pack and stalks into the bathroom and slams the door.

Sakura leans over the sink and runs a tired hand over her equally tired looking face, closing her eyes and griting her teeth, her jaws clamped tight as a deep sigh is released. A voice in the back of her head is quietly telling her to stop and rethink, to not allow her churning feelings to impede her decisions. But, another is just as soft, filled with toxic temptation. To just go and slap Sasuke around a few time, a few broken bones here and there, and damn the medic knows that it's so _wrong, but she wants to do it so bad._

With another sigh, the Haruno strips out of her dust and grit laced clothing and showers under cool, clean water. She takes her time, evading thoughts that bring her back to Konoha, and the recently married couple, and fuck, it's so difficult. With a final rub of her eyes, she turns the water off and steps out of the shower, toweling herself dry and changing into clean sleeping attire. When she steps out of the room, her ebony haired roommate is nowhere to be seen, and honestly, she wouldn't have it any other way.

The moment she slides under the comforter, she lets out a groan of pleasure as she sinks into the feathery, soft bed. Too bad she is only going to be here for another day or two, she thinks, before her emerald eyes flutter close and she's falling into an endless dark that calls out to her.

* * *

I know this isn't the best quality chapter I've created, but...*insert lame excuse here*. Hope you still enjoyed it though, and reviews are still highly appreciated. 3 BTW song suggestions are good too. Thanks!

-Cyanide


	7. Sway, Sway

Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me.

* * *

When Sakura awakens from her nap, the first thing she does is check the time, yawning lazily while doing so. She doesn't see the raven haired Uchiha anywhere, so she assumes that he has gone out to eat, or to do _something_. The young Haruno convinces herself that she doesn't care, but deep down inside, somewhere, a small voice denies it, says that she does, _says that she always will. _Shaking her head clear, she runs a tired hand through her coral pink locks and rubs at her eyes, slowly shuffling into the small bathroom to brush her teeth and maybe find something to eat later on.

The pink haired woman strips out of her sleeping attire, changing into her normal clothing, except the sleeved red shirt was gone, replaced by a loose tank-top that was loose, but still covered everything that needed to be covered. The binding around her breasts was still in place, and could just be glanced through top of her arm-holes. The shirt was red, with white bordering and the signature white circle in the middle, and she slips on the black spandex shorts and medic-nin shirt, along with her shinobi boots and her village headband.

After a brief glance in the mirror to make sure she looks presentable, Sakura grabs the keys on the table and her wallet before heading out, giving the door an experimental twist to make sure it's locked. Instead of taking the traditional way downstairs, she climbs into the window at the end of the hallway and with a great leap, she propels herself into the air, and lands silently on the next roof over. The quiet chuckle that she hears surprises her, and looks around hesitantly before that it was _her_ who had been making that…foreign sound. To her, smiling, laughing, or being positive at all seemed like a concept far too forgotten, far too strange, something that couldn't be afforded in her career and daily life.

Shaking her head for the second time that day, she bites her lip hard before leaping onto another building and spots a tea-shop that doesn't seem to have too many people crowding it, and leaps down, walking towards it slowly. She opens the heavy glass door, and steps inside, the wooden interior welcoming in its own quiet way. The nice brunette that greets her and leads her to her table is nice, her molten brown doe eyes soft, like she's experienced too much pain to be unkind, lost someone dear to her. She's seen the same look in Hinata's eyes, her pale lavender orbs always bright, positive, never looking back, just letting it all go. And truly, jade eyed Sakura envies her, being able to just be happy with what she had, be happy without being able to see Neji in the flesh anymore.

Sakura smiles at the girl, and orders jasmine tea with dango, before hesitantly asking the waitress for her name. "Itsuki," she waitress quietly replies, looking away with reddened cheeks. When Sakura asks if she's lost anyone important, her brown doe eyes, so kind, only closes momentarily, 'to compose herself,' the medic-nin thinks to herself, and she barely hears the reply.

"I lost my parents in the war, apparently the Jyuubi crushed them," Itsuki murmurs, her milk chocolate eyes glassy, and the Haruno woman can only reply with a silent apology, a sad smile carved into her face. "Your dango will be here shortly," the girl says and quickly walks away, to give her order. Lacing her hands together under her chin, she inhales and exhales deeply, suddenly feeling too burdened, too suffocated in this tiny little tea-shop, knowing that she couldn't save this girl's parents, even though she was supposed to save and mend her comrades.

Then a particular memory hits her hard, leaving her gasping, this girl, Itsuki, had been the daughter, _no, still is,_ the daughter of Aori and Ryuuken Umikawa, a particle couple that had leapt in front of her during the war, casting a thick, mud wall in front of her, which had been broken with little difficulty by the Jyuubi, and had been hit, the sickening snap and crunch of all the bones in their body breaking and shattering still haunts her dreams these days, and she remembers the movement of their lips. "Tell my children I'm sorry, that we couldn't be better parents, that we love them and are proud for being able to be their mother and father, forever and always," had been the words Aori and Ryuuken had mouthed to her, a wide, proud smile stretching their lips and their eyes slowly snapping shut a half moment right before the tail had slapped them away, like flies.

When the girl returns with her sweets and pot of tea, she sets it down with practiced caution and turns away, only to have her wrist grasped by Sakura. "I-," her voice is hoarse and the saliva in her mouth seems too thick, too hard to swallow now, "I knew your parents, um…" she swallows with a great effort, and looks away, blinking rapidly to keep the tears from cascading over her eyes from the guilt and sorrow she feels for this teenage girl, too young to be supporting herself and whatever other siblings she had. "They shielded me from the Jyuubi's tail, in exchange for their own life. Uh…Aori and Ryuuken, they had smiled and told me to tell you guys, that- that they were proud to be your parents, and that they were sorry they couldn't be better parents, that they'll love you, forever and always," the pink haired woman's voice cracks at the end, a tear dripping from her eye.

The young Umikawa's eyes are wide, brimming over with too many tears, '_caused by me,'_ the green eyed woman can only think, and her hand is covering her mouth, muffling the sobs that were usually saved for the shower or at night time, under the safety of her covers where no one else could hear. "I-I'm sorry," the brown haired girl stutters before whipping around and running for the bathroom, where she could piece herself back together.

Silently, the emerald eyed woman devours her sweets, and drinks her tea before paying for her meal, and leaving. But once she's outside, a voice calls out to her, raw from cries too painful to hold back. "Wait…! There's something I'd like to tell you…" Itsuki says, her eyes blood shot, "my parents…they were proud to be able to fight in the war. They were proud of whom they were and…they would've done what they did over and over again if they had to, they were happy to be able to protect millions of other lives in exchange of their own because to them, it was a sacrifice that was worth it. They…they didn't want other parents to feel the pain of losing not only their children, or children to not be able to see their parents again, and they were content with that, and I know that they regretted not being able to give Karuno and I the proper good-bye, but I'm glad that-" she takes a shuddering breath that seems to take too much effort, "that I was still lucky enough to have the closure that I needed, that they died happy."

The Konoha ninja is speechless, the tears rolling down her cheeks are like waterfalls that are endless, dripping onto the asphalt beneath them that suddenly seemed too hollow and brittle, ready to send her careening into the endless black pit below. With hardened resolve, she embraces the teenage girl before her, this girl who had lost too much too young, and then Sakura Haruno promises not only herself, but to everyone who she is to meet in the future and has already met, that _she will protect them and make it so that they can smile again with their family, make it so that no one ever has to feel the pain that Itsuki Umikawa was and still is feeling._

* * *

_Note: So so so so so sorry for not having updating for a while, it's just I haven't had any decent ideas and school's been busy. But I wrote a longer(?) chapter to make up for it? You can message me regarding ideas and such! Criticism is always welcome! I also edited chapter 6 a little, just cut some stuff out, so check that out? :)  
_

_-cyanide_


	8. Thinking out Loud

**Note: Naruto does not belong to me.**

* * *

The pink haired woman's stroll back to the hotel was uneventful, save for a few stray thoughts here and there, a watery smile, and a stop in the nearby park to gaze at the stars that hung so clearly in the sky. By the time she casts out the chakra net, she can sense her team mates' chakras, two pulsing rhythmically and one particularly bold signature that crackled with irritation and indecisiveness. '_Who know Sasuke Uchiha could be indecisive,' _she snorts and clambers up the stairs, taking out the keys to her shared room. As soon as she steps foot into the room, her vibrant eyes immediately hone in on the figure that resided in the futon, brows furrowed so hard it could've left permanent stretches in his near flawless forehead.

Sakura clears her throat, closing the door behind her quietly and grabs her sleeping clothes from the bed and hurries into the small bathroom. The pink haired woman had a lot on her mind that night, and she wanted to speak to Sasuke about…_certain things. _The kunoichi changes quickly and folds her outside clothes neatly, putting them in a plastic zip-lock baggie that would be sealed away in a scroll later that evening. When she plops onto the futon on the hotel's relatively clean floor, an irritated charcoal eye cracks open and proceeds to shut quickly after catching sight of the woman before it.

"I can't be that repulsive that you'll go blind after looking at me for a few minutes, okay?" the woman snaps in an irritated manner, her temper getting the better of her. Sasuke's ebony eyebrow rises slightly as if to question her but opens his eyes anyway, his black hole gaze staring straight at her, and her jeweled gaze stares right back, and for a moment, green and black collide, fighting to see who would look away or blink first.

"What do you want?" he asks, his voice too cold, as if he's talking to a stranger and in a way he is, he can barely recognize the woman before him that bares almost no similarities to his childhood teammate besides the pink hair and green eyes, even her physical features had changed to something more mature, _'more untouchable,'_ a buried voice hisses, struggling at being kept in the darkest recesses of the Sharingan user's mind.

"I want to speak to you about the war." And with a small fragment of satisfaction, the female notices him freeze, and the icy mask of indifference is firmly back in place, super glued. His eyes blink slowly, and the way he looks at her is telling her to continue. "Today…I met a daughter of a particular shinobi couple that had participated in the war," her voice is slow, hesitant to recall the terrible memories that lurked at the farthest corners of her carefully arranged mind.

"How are her parents?" the Uchiha's inquiry almost earns a strangle from the monster strength woman, it was like he was mocking her, like he already knew what the answer was but still wanted to hear it from her.

"It was that couple that had protected me, the Umikawa couple," the petal haired woman responds carefully, taking a sharp inhale to keep herself from giving in to the sharp sting of her eyes and the stone that had too suddenly materialized in her throat. He doesn't give anything away besides slowly exhaling and blinking again, the charcoaled gaze a bit too dull.

"So?"

"Sasuke they're gone."

The foreign dark eyes that Sakura now accepts as normal were back again, and he grunts something that is akin to "oh". And her eyes are scanning his face, searching for any scrap of emotion of empathy that he had left, and finds none. The pink haired woman can feel the disappointment and anger churning at the pit of her stomach, and she has to force herself to keep on sitting in front of this person who had changed too much to be her Sasuke Uchiha.

"She was proud of them for dying for what they had believed in," the Haruno spoke softly, and then she sees it, the faint flash of a memory too private to be spoken and the slightest widening of the Uchiha's eyes. The Hokage's apprentice knows who he's thinking of and her gaze softens, just enough to snap the man back to the present and narrow his eyes at her, the faintest slip of crimson surfaces and she holds her spot at the end of his futon.

"Reminds you of something, doesn't it?" she speaks softly, treading dangerously close to the hostile territory of his past. His lips start to twist into a sneer, and she can already hear the words that would be spat out from that mouth. '_That oh so perfect pair of lips…'_ the voice is back, sighing with longing. He would hiss at her, ask what she knew about his brother, the man who had betrayed his own clan and village in order to protect it, dying happy with the single thought that his little brother was safe, the little brother that was the remnant of his destroyed family.

"Shut up," Sasuke says, his voice near silent, but she can hear the breaking of his voice, and _oh_, how it breaks her heart to hear the raw pain in his voice. The death of a family member or someone close was a wound that would never heal, too raw and deep to be mended without a scar that would still ache terribly, even she knows this. When Ino's father had been blasted into nothing, she could not only hear the sheer grief in her best friend's cries and screams, she can still see it today; the occasional spacing out and the sad smile that followed when she was asked if she was okay.

Sakura only sighs and stands up, sealing away the carefully packed clothes and the words that come out are accidental.

"_There are others out there just like Itachi, who are willing to die for their families. You're not the only one with these pains Sasuke, so please; stop trying to bare it alone."_

* * *

So! I decided to do a fast update in apology for missing the April update. There's not much going on now, but it's building up- ish, I think. I mean, they are interacting more...right...? Anyways! Ideas and criticism are always welcome, just pm me! 3

Thanks!

-Cyanide


	9. Monsters

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.  
**

* * *

When the words had slipped from Sakura's lips, the raven haired man on the ground next to her stands up slowly, his face contorts into a sneer and suddenly, her emerald eyes are wide and staring into his red ones. "You have no clue what it's like," he begins, his voice vicious and he comes to an abrupt stop, not even bothering to continue. He storms into the bathroom and slams the door shut, the sound of running water blaring through the door. The pink haired girl can only stand there, too still and guilty, her eyes downcast and misting over, but still, she blinks rapidly, trying to stop the tears from rolling over.

By the time he's out of the bathroom, her green eyes are too steely and dark with hurt and distanced pain. "You think I don't know pain? I think I've experienced enough to know the shit you're talking about. How do you think it feels to see your best friend lose her only other family member, your other best friend lose his father only after seeing him for such a short time? How do you think it feels like, not being able to save a hospital patient, and seeing the _fucking_ devastation on their family members' faces because someone they saw everyday was just _gone- _the pain passes to you too, you know! Sure I didn't lose my whole clan but damn, I lost my parents just as brutally too! So don't you go saying no one understands; because people do!" what had started silent ends as a screaming mess, the pinkette jabs a finger into the man's chest in her anger, the gem green eyes burning with an assortment of feelings, too many to count.

The most prominent of emotions that catches his dark eyes are the hurt she's endured, shelved away somewhere so she wouldn't have to think about it, and it startles him; he never knew. She opens her mouth, ready to scream, spill some more from the dam that's cracking and breaking apart. Sasuke Uchiha doesn't know what he's thinking when his eyes stuck staring at her lips, the plump, pink lips that are just too tempting. He doesn't know what he's doing either when he leans down and presses his lips to hers in a sloppy, agitated, _and oh so sweet_ kiss that seems to last a hundred years, her wide eyes staring at him, the same ones that flutter close and her lips start responding not long after.

Sakura is kissing him and dear lord, it feels so right, but she knows that this man is not for her to keep, not for her to be intimate with, but she just can't stop, she's loved him for too long. But again, the tiny voice speaks up, telling her to break away, to back away because he was a husband and soon to be father, she was not to be the one to destroy his future, _his goals. _So reluctantly, she breaks away from the kiss, breathing shallowly and wiping at her mouth with back of her hand in a useless attempt at trying to rub away the feeling of his lips on hers. "We can't-" she swallows thickly, and looks away, "we mustn't," she continues in a softer tone, and brushes by him quickly, sinking under her covers in hopes that after she wakes up, everything would be okay and she would forget the addictingly delicious sensation of kissing Sasuke, the one that isn't the one from her childhood, but still is.

* * *

I know it's a really short chapter and there isn't much kissing detail (I've never been kissed/have kissed anyone so...), yeah. I hope you enjoyed. Criticism is highly appreciated!

-Cyanide


	10. Of Anxiety and Flowers

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

When the sun just starts to shine its rays onto Sunagakure, a pair of green colored eyes flutter open, and the routine exhausted groan slips through Sakura's lips. She breathes in deeply and her jaw clenches tightly, a crease forming on her brow. Everything is fine for a few seconds and then, all hell breaks loose. Everything from last night, the kiss, the feeling, everything is back again, crashing into her like a waterfall. Her eyes snap open, wide, and she takes a slow and cautious glance off the side of her bed, and sees the raven haired man sleeping peacefully.

She makes her way to the bathroom to freshen up for the meeting with the Kazekage that would take place later, everything feels unreal and far too delicate, and if she were to step on a crack, everything would fall out from under her and she would be falling into an abyss. Sakura splashes cold water onto her face and grabs a towel from the nearby rack to dry her face off. When she brushes her teeth, she stares into the mirror idly and wonders how the Uchiha would react, would he function as if nothing had happened, or would he act somehow…differently? '_Oh well,'_ she thinks to herself while spitting into the sink and grabbing the cup of water.

Sasuke is sitting in his mattress, rubbing his eyes and mumbling in an irritated manner. The pink lhaired woman's lips press into a thin line and she walks out the door in a whirl of pink, black, red, and jingling keys, and the door closes loudly with a click to signify that Sasuke now had the room to himself. With a quiet sigh, he climbs out of the futon, grabs his clothes, and makes his way into the bathroom to get himself ready for the day.

The Hokage's apprentice walks leisurely around the sandy streets of Sunagakure, looking for a place where she could have some breakfast, preferably something light, such as miso soup or maybe just some tea would be fine- she couldn't eat without feeling nauseous about her actions last night. She finds the tea shop from last night and hesitantly walks in, hoping to see Itsuki again and maybe chat a little before her meeting at nine. Her green eyes find the brown haired teen in the corner, taking the order of an elderly couple and after she's done, the smile that graces her face has Sakura standing speechlessly. Yesterday, the only smiles that had flitted onto the orphan's face had been soft and filled to the brim with the distant sadness she would lock away, but today, the smile was radiant, albeit the distant sadness still lingered, just not as much.

The Umikawa girl turn around and sees Sakura, her brown doe eyes widening a fraction before she hands off the order to another waiter and hurries over to the pink haired customer. The girl ushers her over to a spot where she could see outside the window at the people passing by, and she opens her mouth to speak. "Just tea would be fine," the pink haired woman murmurs quietly and the waitress nods before turning away and entering the kitchen herself.

While waiting for her tea, the pinkette laces her fingers under her chin and gazes out of the window with lazy interest, her lidded green eyes staring out in a trance like state as she careens back to yesterday, and thinks about what she would say to the married man she had kissed. '_It wasn't your fault until you started to kiss back,'_ the voice points out quietly in the back of her mind and she winces slightly, biting her lip unconsciously as she realizes she was at fault, although it had been Sasuke who had initiated the kiss. The female is awakened from her thoughts when a pot of tea is quietly set down on the table, along with a tea cup that is rapidly filled with an aromatic tea that smells faintly of lemon balm and something else. She raises the cup to her lips and takes a careful sip, savoring the taste of lemon and the sweetness of some kind of flower she couldn't pin down.

"It's linden and lemon balm," Itsuki says quietly and a small smile stretches her face, "it'll helps the anxiety," she adds and pats Sakura's back lightly as some sort of comfort before she saunters away to attend to the other people that come in looking for something to snack on before the day officially begins. '_Anxiety was it? I didn't know I showed it so openly,"_ the woman muses quietly before pouring herself another cup and sips away, lost in thought.

* * *

Sorry this chapter is so uneventful. I have a bit of writers block and I felt like it should have ended where it had. It's also summer so I'm quite lazy atm and I also have school reading to sigh *sighs*, well besides that...thanks for all the reviews and views. Ily 3

Oh I'm also looking for a beta reader...maybe? Someone willing to look over my chapters before I actually post them. If you can, then pm me, thanks!

-Cyanide.


	11. Last to Know

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

After the raven haired man had gotten ready for the day, he didn't bother leaving the hotel room, only quickly grabbing the keys, opening the window, and swinging out. He's hungry and there's a meeting soon, and honestly, he so eagerly wanted to rip away at the annoying feeling in his chest, that what he did yesterday was right. He had a wife already, and he was well on his way of achieving his goal of restoring the clan; Karin was pregnant and was due in three or four months, he couldn't go off being intimate with other females, he was bound already.

Catching a flash of pink hair in a nearby tea shop, Sasuke skids to a stop and hesitantly opens the door, walking towards the direction of one Sakura Haruno. Her clear, green eyes widen imperceptibly at the sight of him and she looks away, the pink rising in her cheeks show the burning shame she feels. "Sasuke," she greets him quietly, taking a sip from the steaming tea cup, "would you like some tea?" she adds hesitantly after a few moments, and he only grunts in response, too busy trying not to stare at her porcelain features, forehead marred by faded scars left behind from acne.

When the extra cup is set in front of him, and aromatic tea is poured, she opens her pretty, pink lips, but they don't know what to say. Sakura is too embarrassed to speak about the kiss, but she forces the words that had been stuck in her throat to tumble out. "About last night, I think we were both in the heat of the argument and what happened just…happened," she speaks quickly and averts her gaze while pearly teeth tug at her bottom lip. His response is a quiet grunt that originates from deep within his throat and she sighs, taking another sip from her tea cup.

She drops a few coins onto the table and mutters a near silent 'goodbye', she was going to go to the Kazekage's office earlier, and he blinks, his mouth nearly lets slip a '_don't go_' but he catches himself in time and slams his lips shut and takes a furious drink from his now warm beverage. When a fairly young looking, brown haired waitress comes over, he lets out a sharp exhale and she chuckles under her breath.

"You like her don't you?"

"No. I can't."

"I see…she loves you, and I can tell she has for a long time. Don't make her wait too long."

He's stunned and his charcoal eyes are wide and he sits there gaping at the wall while Itsuki walks away with a small smile on her face. Her comment has him thinking about how he feels about Sakura, right down to the tiniest details. The fuzzy feeling in his chest whenever she laughs and smiles, he realizes that it's adoration and longing, the uncomfortable feeling that pooled at the bottom of his stomach when he slipped the wedding ring onto Karin's finger, it had been born from the very fact that he didn't see her in the way he had thought he had.

Everything fits together like puzzle pieces now- why he had felt the burning anger towards Naruto when they had been genin and the blonde would make the pinkette laugh, it had been jealously. The shame and guilt he had felt when he had knocked her out and left her on the bench- he had ben ashamed of his actions because it wasn't something that should have been used on someone he cared about, someone that he was attached to.

He blinks rapidly and drags a hand tiredly down his face, everything he had created up until now was for waste, he was married to Karin and he was going to have a family with someone he didn't see in a romantic light and he was still hurting Sakura; every time she sees him or his red-head wife, her lips press into a thin line and she looks the other way. Sasuke sighs again and stands up, leaving the tea shop while pondering about his new found dilemma.

* * *

So a quick update I guess...? I hope it's okay.

-Cyanide


End file.
